


Break Down

by Karak323



Series: The Mustang Chronicles [5]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Case Fic, Demons, F/M, Gen, family troubles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 20:55:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16772773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karak323/pseuds/Karak323
Summary: Old reunions and black eyed demons aren't the Winchesters' and Kershaws' only problems in part five. How will the girls cope when they have to face their pasts and what will the boys do to help them?





	Break Down

“Justin!” Madalyn stood in shock, staring at the guy in the doorway for the moment it took Kara to break away from Sam and come marching awkwardly – because of her leg – towards them.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Kara demanded as her face turned a brilliant shade of red. She tightened her fist as she tried to get around her now horror stuck cousin and would have hit the newcomer square in the face if Dean and Sam hadn’t had sense enough to hold her back just in time.

“Kara! Calm down!” Sam had never seen her so angry.

“Calm down!? I’ll kill him and then I’ll calm down!” She struggled against her captors but they held firm for the most part.

The blonde guy in the doorway had meanwhile backed up against his green 1966 Ford Thunderbird parked outside.

“You bastard! I told you I’d kill you if I ever saw you again!” Kara was still threatening as Madalyn quickly stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

“Hey Mad, sorry to cause such a fuss,” the guy apologized, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down at the ground.

“Really though, what are you doing here Justin?”

He dropped his hand to his side. “I need your help,” he said, somewhat sheepishly.

“You need my help?”

“I know it’s a lot to ask–”

“Hell yeah.”

“–but you’re the only one I could think of that could work this job with me.”

“How’d you find me anyway?” Madalyn frowned and crossed her arms.

“Give me some credit Mad, I’m a hunter remember? So will you help me?”

Kara burst out of the door with Sam and Dean close behind. “How dare you show up like this! After what you did, you son of a bitch!”

“Kar,” her cousin cautioned.

“Are you here to screw up my cousin’s life again?” Kara demanded, ignoring Madalyn.

“I–” Justin stuttered, glancing over at the brothers who stood behind the girls like vigilant bodyguards.

“Well you can just forget it! Turn around and go to hell you–!”

“Kar! Shut up!” Madalyn’s eyes were fierce and her cousin snapped her mouth closed in surprise. “Justin needs my help on a job and I’m gonna do it,” she said in a less menacing tone.

“You what!?” Kara exploded again, making all three guys jump. “I can’t believe you’re even talking to this sleaze bag! And you’re seriously considering helping him? Did you forget what happened last time?!”

“I know what I’m doing,” Madalyn responded in a low voice and Kara could see that there was no changing her mind.

Kara limped back inside the motel room. “Well you’re sure as hell not going alone!”

“Kar you can’t come with us,” Madalyn objected, even before Justin could, and followed her cousin back inside. The door closed behind her and the three guys were left standing alone in uncomfortable silence to size each other up.

“M, I will not let you go off with that psycho alone!”

“He’s not a psycho!”

“He almost got you killed!”

“It was an accident! And I’m more experienced now – I can take care of myself.”

“Accident my ass! I don’t trust him.”

“It’s not up to you, Kara!”

“Well I am not gonna let you go and do something this stupid, M!”

“What can you do? You can barely stand!”

“I can make sure that prick doesn’t–”

“Stop calling him names!”

“I can call him whatever the hell I want and he’s a–”

“Kara!”

The yelling was coming through the door now and Sam and Dean decided that it was time for them to intervene. They went inside, being sure to close the door again behind them. There was an intense air of anger and distress in the room, no doubt coming from Kara who was trying without success to stop her cousin from packing up her things.

“This is just something I have to do, Kar!”

“You don’t have to do shit for him, M!”

“It really doesn’t sound like a good idea, Madalyn,” Sam put in cautiously, “This guy doesn’t exactly seem like someone you should go off alone with.”

“You don’t even know him!” Madalyn retorted.

“No, but from what Kara’s told us–” Dean started.

“Oh, from what Kara’s told you? You think you know everything about my past now, do you? Everything about me?”

“Maddie–”

“No, Dean. Just stay out of it – all of you!” Madalyn finished shoving all her stuff into a duffel and grabbed her machete. She stormed out and slammed the door behind her.

Back out in the cool night air Madalyn took a deep breath. She looked over at Justin who gave her a hesitant smile.

“Get in the car before I change my mind,” she said gruffly and walked over to the passenger’s seat. They drove off a few seconds later.

Kara swung open the door just as the Thunderbird disappeared around the corner. She cursed incoherently and started toward the Mustang.

“Kara, you’re really in no shape to follow them,” Sam said, blocking her path.

“Sam, get outta my way!”

“No dude, Sammy’s right – I’ll go.” Dean took out his keys.

“We can all go just hurry up!”

Sam held firm. “Dean can handle them, but you have to calm down and just rest for a while.”

A wave of dizziness came over Kara and she saw that Sam was right.

“Fine,” she grumbled. “Dean you bring her back in one piece!”

\---

Justin glanced in the rearview mirror. “I think we’re being followed.” Madalyn turned around and looked out the back window.

She gave a tired sigh. “It’s Dean.”

“I can lose him in the next town we come to.”

“No, we’re better off if we just let him follow us – trust me.”

“So he’s your new boyfriend?” Justin asked with a sideways glance at her.

Madalyn snorted and slouched down in her seat.

“Why the hell did you come back Justin?” she asked suddenly.

“I missed you,” he said as if stating the obvious. “It’s just not the same without you, Mad. Having to hunt alone, with no one there to remind me to bring the rock salt," he chuckled weakly

“You and the rock salt. I thought you’d’ve gotten over that.”

“Is that what you did? Get over it?” She knew he wasn’t talking about the salt.

“It’s been two years, what else was I supposed to do?”

They drove on in relative quiet for the next few miles, Shoot to Thrill playing over the radio.

“So what’s this job you need a girl for?” Madalyn asked finally.

Justin gave her a crooked smile. “I don’t need a girl, I need a psychic.”

“As long as it doesn’t involve any body-snatching. I’ve had enough of that for a lifetime.”

He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t ask.”

“Ok.”

She sighed, “So I’m guessing you want me to play medium?”

“Just like old times.”

She furrowed her brow. “Not quite. My power’s a lot stronger now and it’s getting harder for me to control.”

“Well in that case I have something for you. Look in the glove compartment.”

She did and a small brown box fell into her lap. She opened it and took out the necklace that was inside.

“Justin, I–”

“It has a charm on it that should help you focus,” he explained.

“Oh.” She slipped it over her head and tucked in carefully beneath her shirt. “Thanks.”

\---

“I can’t believe she went off with that bastard!” Kara screamed as she paced the motel room. “How can she be so stupid? He almost got her killed once already!”

Kara continued to rant and pace until Sam stepped in front of her, effectively stopping her frantic movement.

“Kara – you need to calm down. You’re starting to get me riled up, which means you’re losing control.” He put his hands on her shoulders. There’s nothing we can do about Madalyn right now. Dean’s watching her, she’ll be okay.”

“She better be or I’m gonna castrate both Justin and Dean,” Kara growled, but then she started to take deep breaths – in and out – calming herself down. “Okay, I’m good. I’ll be fine.”

Kara leaned into Sam, grabbing the front of his shirt and pressing her head against his chest. Sam wrapped his arms around her in a firm hug. The two of them stayed like that until Kara suddenly jumped.

“I really have to stop putting my phone on vibrate…” Kara commented absently as she pulled her phone out of her jean pocket. “Hello? Hey Claire, what’s up?" She paused as she listened to the other end of the line, "Oh, uh huh… are you sure? …Yeah, I can come by and take a look... No Maddie’s on a different job right now... Okay, I’ll be there soon... Okay, stay safe!” Kara closed the phone and put it back into her pocket. “Alright Sam, start packin’.”

Sam raised an eyebrow at Kara’s sudden and complete mood change.

“My friend Claire thinks there’s something up at the hospital she works at – young women keep disappearing,” Kara explained while she began gathering up her belongings.

“Are you sure we should go off by ourselves? What if Dean and Madalyn come back here and need our help?”

“Tough for them. I’m not about to help Justin with anything… and I guess I know that Maddie can handle her own and really will be fine,” she sighed. “Dean’ll probably be okay too.”

“Well I’m not about to let you go on your own. Besides, Madalyn would probably kill me if I didn’t help you, so I’ll meet you at the car.” Sam walked out over to his own room.

Kara stopped her packing for a moment and sighed heavily. “If she knew what I was going back to she’d kill you for helping me… Why did Claire have to move to move back there? Now I have to break my promise.”

\---

“Mad…. Mad…. Madalyn!”

She jerked awake to see Justin leaning over her.

“Come on, it looks like you had a rough night so I got us a hotel room,” he said and took a step back to let her out of the car.

Madalyn rolled out of her seat just as the Impala pulled up beside them.

“Let’s go Mad, our room’s this way,” Justin directed as Dean got out.

“Sweet! I’m all tuckered out from all that driving we just did.” Dean clapped his rival on the back and took the room key from his hand.

“Excuse me,” Justin started, taken slightly aback. “I don’t think–”

“Actually, I think it would be better if you two shared the room and I got my own,” Madalyn interrupted.

“But Mad–!” he protested.

“It’ll give you two a chance to get to know each other!” She gave Justin a playful punch on the shoulder and was off to the front desk.

Justin turned to look back at Dean who was giving him a disturbingly wide grin.

\---

I’m telling you, I’m not crazy! Jess was killed by a werewolf! How can you not believe me? She was covered in bite marks and her arm was chewed off! Not ripped, not cut - but chewed!” Kara shouted at the psychologist.

Dr. O’Neill looked remarkably like a jolly old St. Nick, but Dr. O’Neill was not jolly. Nor was he a kind or understanding man and Kara would learn this very quickly. In charge or the ‘extreme’ cases, Dr. O’Neill often resorted to extreme measures in order to ‘cure’ his patients. Kara was considered an extreme case. Kara was considered in need of curing.

“Ms. Kershaw, you need to let go of this ridiculous notion. A werewolf did not kill your friend. A werewolf could not have killed your friend. There are no such things as werewolves.”

Kara slammed her head back against the white padding of her cell in frustration.

The doctor studied her for a moment. “I wonder. Did you create a monster in your head in order to cope with the memory of what crime you yourself committed? The police do not think you are strong enough to rip off an arm, but with a little surge of adrenaline… I bet you were jealous that Caroline had run off to meet a boy. I bet you followed her, your jealousy over took you and you killed them both in your rage.” Kara’s blood boiled. It was all wrong.

The doctor leaned in close and reached a hand out to stroke her hair. Kara twitched away but couldn’t move very far with her arms strapped across her chest. “You enjoyed it too, I think. You liked the killing. The blood. You want to do it again… and, if you are a good little girl, I just might let you.” The doctor smiled twistedly and Kara swore that his eyes turned pure black for an instant, but then she blinked and they were back to their usual cold, steel grey.

\---

“Kara? Hey are you alright?” A hand was placed on her shoulder. She jumped and twirled around to see Sam standing before her, a troubled look on his face.

“God Sam, you scared the crap out of me! I thought we were gonna meet at the Mustang.”

“Yeah, that was nearly ten minutes ago. Are you ok? When I came in you were just staring at the wall. And since when has anyone been able to sneak up on you?”

“I’m probably just out of it because of my leg.”

Sam wasn’t sure if he believed it, but he accepted her excuse. “So where are we going?”

“Pennsylvania. Claire moved there after what happened to her fiancé.” She picked up her things. “That’s also where I went to college,” she added.

Outside Kara threw her stuff in the back seat of the Mustang and they soon pulled out of the motel parking lot. “So, I want to get back to PA quick – I hope you don’t mind flying.”

\---

Madalyn was having a heard time falling asleep. Her mind was racing with a million thoughts and emotions – all about Justin and his sudden reappearance in her life. She had thought that that chapter was over. And she didn’t know why she was helping him either. Kara was right – she didn’t owe him anything. And had he really missed her? Last time he had been so wrapped up with hunting…

She sighed into the darkness, which was surprisingly quiet. It seemed like the charm was working. Madalyn looked over at the clock – 3:21am. A distant sound of thunder rumbled outside and her eyelids suddenly got too heavy to hold open. The wind rustled through the trees outside and mimicked the sound of whispers. After a few more moments Madalyn finally drifted off to sleep.

\---

“I can’t believe you asked if I minded flying. You’re the one that got so freaked out!” Sam said to Kara as the two of them walked out of the airport.

“The flying part’s fine. It’s the going up and down parts I don’t like.” Kara put on a face, reminiscent of the one she had before she almost made good use of the airsickness bag.

Sam shook his head as the two walked toward a car parked in front of the arrival pick-up area. It took Sam a moment to realize that it was Kara’s Mustang that they were approaching.

“How did you get the Mustang here?” He asked in surprise.

“When you have the means, anything is possible.” Kara stated matter-of-factly. She took the keys from a man who had been waiting beside the car. “Now let’s go.”

\---

Madalyn woke with a start. Someone was knocking loudly on her door.

“Hey Maddie! Maddie open up!”

“C-coming!” she managed and pulled on a pair of pants over her pajama bottoms as she walked towards the door. She answered it still half asleep. “What time is it?” She mumbled and Dean gave her a funny look.

“It’s after 2 in the afternoon – who were you yelling at?”

“What?”

“You were yelling - like in Latin or somethin’. What were you doing?” Dean asked again, even more concerned now. Justin came up and pushed his way past Dean and into the room.

“Mad are you alright?” He put an anxious hand to her forehead.

She pushed it away. “Yeah, I’m fine!”

“Well what were you screaming about?”

Her eyes were wide with confusion. “I didn’t know I was. I must’ve been having a bad dream or whatever.”

Dean frowned. “Well we better be getting you back.”

“She’s not going anywhere,” Justin stated firmly.

“Yeah well I don’t think that’s up to you.” Dean looked at Madalyn.

“I’m staying Dean.”

“Fine,” he said after a moment. “Then so am I.” He walked into the room and flopped down on the bed with the bag of candy he had been holding. “Peanut M&M?” He offered the bag of red, orange, yellow and green. Madalyn shook her head.

“She only eats the blue ones,” Justin said.

“She what?”

“I only eat the blue ones. The rest taste funny,” Madalyn explained.

Dean stopped and looked at her, then did the eyebrow thing. He dug around in the bag until he located a blue one and tossed it to her. He turned to Justin. “So what’s this job you need a chick for?”

“I don’t need a chick, I need a psychic.”

“Ok whatever. So what’s the job?”

Justin frowned at him. “There’s this old Victorian style house some blocks down that’s swarming with spirits. I’ve tried everything to get rid of them but they keep coming back. The family’s getting really desperate and have even bumped up the price if I can help them.”

“Woah, you’re getting paid for this, Dude?”

Justin shrugged. “Yeah.”

“Man, then I’m really doing something wrong,” Dean mumbled into the yellow bag.

“So when did you plan on going to the house?” Madalyn asked.

“Tonight,” Justin answered. “The spirits only seem to be active after dark.”

“And what do you want me to do exactly?”

“I figured we could get the spirits to come to you - they won’t stay put long enough otherwise - and then I might be able to exorcise them.”

She shrugged. “Sounds like a plan. Now get out so I can shower and get ready. I’m ashamed to have anyone see me without make-up.”

“You’re right, you’re hideous,” Dean said with a grin and a mouthful of M&Ms.

She threw a pillow at him as she walked to the bathroom.

\---

Kara pulled into the driveway of Claire’s new house but before she could get out of the car Sam grabbed her arm and demanded, “Kara what happened here? Why do you seem so… afraid? Ever since we entered town you’ve been really twitchy. And you’re projecting.”

“I’m not gonna get into it now.” Kara shrugged him off. Sam followed her up to the door but he was beginning to think he shouldn’t have let Kara come here after all.

“Thank god you’re here.” Claire wrung her hands nervously as she sat perched on the edge of a chair in her living room. Sam and Kara sat across from her on the couch. “Another girl went missing – it’s all my fault! They were under my charge and I couldn’t help them!”

“Claire, hun, it’s not your fault. And we’ll find them, I promise. Why don’t you fill us in some more and we’ll see how we can help. What are the police saying?”

“They think the girls escaped from the ward but that can’t be! That ward is completely sealed off! No one gets in or out except for high clearance staff members. All the doors are only opened with key cards, pass codes, and print scans. Besides, it’s impossible to even move in the ward without being seen by the cameras. That’s the weirdest thing - the cameras didn’t pick up anything! The girls were just there one second and gone the next!”

Kara frowned in thought. “Other than the girls being in the same ward is there anything else the girls have in common?”

“All of them committed violent crimes. That’s why they’re in that particular ward. Two killed people and the most recent one beat her roommate almost to death.”

As Claire spoke Kara was reminded once again of what she went through in that very same hospital – that very same ward. Kara’s thoughts swam until a hand on her cheek broke through her dark thoughts. She was confused for a minute and then she heard someone calling her name.

She sat up and looked around. “Huh? Who’s there?”

“Kara what’s going on? This is the second time you’ve spaced out on me and I’ve never seen you do that before. It has something to do with this job – no – this place doesn’t it? What are you hiding from me?” Sam demanded, clearly worried about what was going on with Kara.

“Just don’t worry about it, I’m fine. Claire, I’m gonna go to the police station to see what I can dig up. Stay here and give Sam any more information that you might have.” Kara stood abruptly and walked out.

Sam stared after Kara and a flash of anger and fear went through him before disappearing completely and just as quickly as it had come.

“Do you know anything about why Kara is so freaked out by this place?” Sam asked Claire. You could hear the frustration in his voice.

“I wish I could help, but honestly? I don’t know much about the real Kara. She’s always been very secretive. I know that she used to go to the college here but she took a break for about a semester and then just dropped out completely. I don’t know where she went after that, or why. The only one who really knows anything about Kara is Madalyn.” Claire sighed, “You’d think I would know her better since we’ve been friends for so long, but I don’t think she trusts me. She always changes the subject when anything about her past comes up.” Claire bit her lip. “I think something really bad happened to her but I have no idea what. I’m sorry I can’t help,” she said again.

\---

Madalyn stared around her in bewilderment. “What the hell?” she muttered.

She was standing outside next to the Thunderbird in the parking lot but she had no idea how she had gotten there. She looked at her reflection in the car window and saw that she was fully dressed with her make up on and her hair up - though it was still damp from her shower.

That was the last thing she remembered – getting out of the shower.

“What the hell?” she said again.

Dean opened up the hotel room door to Madalyn standing outside looking thoroughly disoriented.

“You okay?” he asked.

“No, I’m going crazy!”

“Going crazy?” he asked with a smirk.

“Shut up.” She pushed her way into the room. “No I mean I just blacked out or something – I don’t remember anything after I got out of the shower. I just came-to, standing out in the parking lot!”

“Huh, that is weird.” Dean fumbled around in his jacket and took out a flask. “No, not that one,” he muttered, put the flask back and took out a second one. He opened it and threw some of its contents at Madalyn.

“God– Dean! What the hell was that for!?” she shouted, wiping her face with the front of her shirt.

“I had to make sure you weren’t possessed by a demon or something,” he shrugged. “Woah, I didn’t know you had a tattoo!”

“I don’t.”

“Then what’s that?” He gestured to her stomach which was currently half exposed as she continued to dry off the holy water.

“Huh?” She looked down and her eyes widened. “I have no idea what that is…” She went over to the dresser to examine the markings in the mirror.

Dean traced his finger along the intricate spiral design that was woven like ivy across Madalyn’s stomach and around to her back. “Neither do I,” he said.

She twisted around to try and see the other side for herself. “Well dude, get it off of me!” she demanded in a slightly higher pitched voice.

“I can’t, it’s part of your skin,” Dean replied after he tried to rub out the design.

“Well where did it come from!?”

“I don’t know! Stop yelling at me!”

“I’m not yelling at you!”

Justin entered the room at that moment.

“I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?” he asked, taking in the sight of Dean kneeling on the floor holding Madalyn’s shirt up to take a picture of her mid-drift.

Madalyn balked, “Uh… no! We just uhm – look!” She turned and showed him the markings on her stomach.

Justin gave her a strange look. “You got a tattoo?”

“No! I don’t know what it is!”

“What do you mean you don’t know what it is?” he asked.

“She blacked out. I thought she was possessed by a demon so I threw holy water at her and we found this.” Dean straightened up and pointed back down at the markings. “She’s not by the way – a demon… ‘s all good.”

“No, it is not all good! We still don’t know what the hell this is!” Madalyn was still panicky.

“Ok, just calm down.” Justin stepped forward for a closer look.

“Why don’t I call Kara and Sam and we can all figure this out together,” Dean suggested.

“No!” Madalyn said frantically. “I mean, I don’t want to worry her. She’ll just get freaked and insist I go back.”

“Well I’ll call a few of my contacts and see if anybody’s ever heard of anything like this before.” Justin took out his cell phone. “Are you still up for tonight or did you want to reschedule?”

“No, I’ll go… I mean I’m not dying or anything… I hope.” She looked up at Dean for some encouragement but he only gave her a half-hearted half-smile.

Justin spent over an hour on the phone but no one he talked to had ever heard of ivy-like markings suddenly appearing on someone who had recently blacked out.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked Madalyn after finally hanging up the phone.

“I turned off the water, grabbed a towel, then boom I was out in the parking lot!”

“Well, let’s see if there aren’t any clues left in the bathroom,” Justin suggested and the two of them walked back to her room.

There didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary, just the fact that she had left her towel on the floor, which she normally wouldn’t have done.

“Do you think it has anything to do with your power?” he asked.

“I can’t see any connection,” she frowned. “I haven’t actually sensed any spirits all day though, which is weird.”

“It might just be this area. It seems like all paranormal activity in centralized in the haunted house.” He paused. “You know we don’t have to go if you don’t want to. We can wait until we figure this all out first.”

Madalyn shook her head. “No, I want to help the family out. My stuff can wait.”

Justin smiled at her with a faraway look. “That’s what I love about you. You always put others first.” He brushed back a lock of hair that had fallen in front of her face.

“Justin–” He didn’t let her finish. He kissed her, and when he finally stepped back again she was speechless.

“I’ve wanted to do that ever since you opened the door back at the motel.”

She blinked. “Oh… well I’ve wanted to do this ever since I opened the door back at the motel.” She cuffed him and his head whipped to the side.

“Well I guess I deserve that.” He took hold of his jaw and stretched it a bit. “Do you feel better now?”

Madalyn took a breath. “Yes, I do.”

\---

Sam frowned deeply as he stood outside of Claire’s house. Something about this town was just not right. And what was so horrible about Kara’s past that she wouldn’t tell him? Tell anyone? Except maybe Madalyn. He got out his phone and quickly dialed a number.

“Hey Sammy, what’s up?” Dean answered.

“Hey Dean, is Madalyn around?”

“No, she’s in the other room. Do you need her?”

“No, I actually need to talk to you and I don’t want Madalyn to overhear.”

“What’s going on? Are you and Kara in some kinda trouble?” Dean questioned. What would Sam not want Madalyn to know about?

“I’m fine but I don’t think Kara is. She and I are in PA. We came to help her friend Claire out again, but this is also where Kara went to school and I think something about this place makes her really afraid.”

“Well duh. A werewolf kills off her friend and she gets blamed – for killing the wolf too. Oh, and the added bonus of her getting locked up in the mental ward. I’d be more concerned if she wasn’t freaked.”

“I know, but she’s more then just weirded out, Dean, she’s terrified!”

“Yeah, Maddie’s not in the best shape here either. Some freaky tattoo thing just appeared on her skin after she blacked out for a bit. I’ll send you a picture.”

Sam sighed. “Well I’m on my way to go do some research at the library to see if I can find anything out about Kara, I’ll see if anything comes up about the tattoo.”

“We always get mixed up with the crazies, don’t we Sammy.”

“I don’t know… Well whatever you do, don’t tell Madalyn where we are. I have a feeling she won’t like it.”

“Okay, and you probably shouldn’t mention anything to Kara about Maddie’s condition,” Dean added. “And hey - watch yourself Sammy.”

“I will.” Sam hung up his phone and started his walk to the library they had passed driving into town.

\---

Dean leaned into Madalyn's room and rapped on the door frame. Justin was there rubbing his jaw and Madalyn had a funny look on her face. “Uh, it’s almost six so I think we better get going if we’re gonna do this.”

“Yeah ok,” Madalyn said and grabbed her stuff. She walked up to Dean standing in the doorway and kissed him impulsively before exiting the room.

Dean stood in confusion for a moment, then gave Justin a smirk and a shrug and followed Madalyn out to the cars.

“So who’s driving?” Dean asked, a faint smile still on his face.

“I say we walk,” Madalyn declared. “It’s not that far and I need some fresh air.” She started off down the road before the guys could say otherwise.

\---

The house looked haunted. Even if the three hunters didn’t know it was haunted it still would have looked it. The only sign of any current residents was the 2007 Chevy Impala parked in the driveway.

“Blasphemy,” Dean and Madalyn both said under their breath as they passed the vehicle on their way up to the sagging front porch.

Justin rang the doorbell and a wispy old woman answered it. She gave a wrinkly smile when she saw who it was and said “Come in children!” waving them inside. She led them into a heavily furnished living room where a quaint little family of four stood waiting. “Can I get you something? Lemonade and cookies, perhaps?” the old woman offered.

Dean was about to accept but Justin said “No, that’s alright, thank you,” and Dean went into a subtle pout that only Madalyn noticed.

Polite introductions were given and the parents led their young son and daughter out of the room, leaving Grandma behind to speak with the hunters.

“This house is very old,” she was saying to Dean and Madalyn, “been in my family for years!” She bobbed her head and Dean saw the loose skin around her neck wobble a bit. “I always felt that there was a presence in this house, ever since I was a little girl running around in pigtails.” She gave a quick smile then her face turned serious once more. “But this is getting ridiculous!” she continued. “Drawers and cupboards banging about at all hours of the night. Sheets and curtains being thrown all over – the poor children are scared to death, they are!”

“Well we’re going to do the best we can ma’am,” Justin nodded. “If you don’t mind, we’re just going to start by looking around a bit and see what happens.”

The three hunters separated and wandered around the house. Nothing happened for half and hour.

Madalyn was examining the array of family photos that lined the staircase when she felt a tug at her sleeve.

“Are you one of those psycho ladies?” the little boy asked.

She grinned. “I think you mean psychic, and yes, I am.”

“Good.” The boy smiled angelically. “We need one of those.”

“Oh yeah? You believe in psychics?” she asked.

“Why yes!” he said frankly. “They’re the best for demonic possession.”

Madalyn gave a nervous laugh. “What?”

That’s when the boy pushed her down the stairs.

Dean heard a loud thumping noise coming from below and went to investigate. He had been looking around the master bedroom, the little girl just a step behind asking all sorts of annoying questions, and she now blocked his way out into the hall.

“Excuse me,” he mumbled and tried to step past her.

“I don’t think so!” she said in a sweet singsong voice. She blinked and her eyes flashed pure black.

“Great,” Dean mumbled and took a swing at her.

The little girl held her cheek where he had struck her with a look of horror on her face.

“Hey! That hurt!” she pouted, “You can’t hit girls!”

“Yeah but you’re not a little girl – you’re a frickin’ demon,” Dean asserted.

She grinned devilishly and said, “You’re right!” and punched him across the room.

“Son of a bitch!” Dean cursed as he got up. The demon got ready to deal another blow but Dean was too quick for her this time. He grabbed a vase off the dresser and clocked her on the head, affectively knocking her out.

Dean rushed down the stairs and saw Madalyn lying unconscious before the front door, the little boy bent over her menacingly. Dean knocked him out of the way but someone gave a shout behind him.

“Hey! That wasn’t very nice!” the old lady called out. She leapt at Dean and clamped onto his hand with her false teeth.

He shook her off but she gave him a sock to the gut. He kicked her away and she fell back against the banister.

“Wow,” Dean wheezed as he bent over, holding his stomach. “You pack quite a punch for an old broad!”

The children’s parents appeared and attempted to drag Madalyn’s body off somewhere.

“No!” Dean said with a labored breath. “What are you doing?”

“We need her. She is to be our vessel.” The boy stepped forward. “But we don’t need you.”

The demon lunged at him but Dean found another vase. Justin ran in at that moment.

“Where were you!?” barked Dean. “Help me get Maddie and let’s get out of here!”

Justin glanced between Dean and the couple still dragging Madalyn out of the foyer. He took out his gun and shot the father, hitting the possessed man’s shoulder. The demon couple let out a screech and fled.

Madalyn regained consciousness as Dean slung her over his shoulder fireman style.

“Dean, put me down!” She pounded him on the back and he quickly dropped her to her feet. “What the hell is going on?!” she demanded.

“We’re getting the hell out of here, that’s what’s going on.” Dean grabbed her arm and pulled her out the door.

The three hunters ran all the way back to the hotel. When they returned to the parking lot Dean grabbed Justin by his collar and threw him up against the Thunderbird.

“You son of a bitch! How could you let us walk into something like that!?” he yelled.

“What-! Dude, how was I supposed to know!?” Justin shouted back.

“You didn’t notice anything strange about those whack jobs all those other times you were with them?”

“No! And you didn’t notice anything weird either! Now get off of me!” Justin tried to shove him away.

Dean forcibly let him go. He glared at him for a second more then turned to examine his wounded hand.

“Man… I think I got demon rabies,” he glowered.

Madalyn was leaning against the car, breathing heavily. “What the hell - was that all about?” she asked, gesturing back towards the house.

Dean shook his head. “I don’t know but it was messed up!”

“Justin I don’t think this thing you gave me works. I couldn’t sense anything in there.” Madalyn took the necklace out from beneath her shirt.

“I don’t know what could be the problem, but it looked like the demons wanted you for something,” Justin said between deep breaths.

“For what?” she asked.

“Maybe it has something to do with that tattoo of yours.”

She lifted up the bottom of her shirt to examine the swirls again.

“It’s different,” Dean pointed out and took a closer look.

Delicate pentacles were woven in among the ivy now.

“It almost looks like miniature devil’s traps,” he mused.

“I think a demon tried to possess her,” Justin theorized. “That might explain the time lapse. But I think it was forced out somehow.”

“A demon!? Forced out? How?” Madalyn gave him a horrified look.

“I don’t know. It’s almost like your body rejected it.”

Her jaw hung slack. She exchanged worried looks with Dean.

“I think it’s time we call Sam and Kara.” Dean moved to take out his phone.

Madalyn grabbed his hand to stop him. “No!”

“Maddie, this is some crazy shit here,” he protested.

“I know, but I can handle it. Let’s just figure out how to send those demons back to hell and then we can deal with this.” She let go of her shirt and walked inside, Justin right behind her. They got back to Madalyn’s room and Dean went to find a bandage for his bite mark.

“Ok, we need to go back and find a way to exorcise the demons.” Madalyn was pacing in front of the bed.

"Walk right back into a ring of demons?"

"I don't see any other way."

“Well I can’t allow you to do that,” Justin said kind of quietly.

“Well I'm not letting you go alone.” She turned around to look at him.

“That's not what I'm talking about."

"What?"

"You were supposed to be my new host but that frickin’ tattoo thing got in the way. Apparently seeing ghosts isn’t your only talent.”

Justin's eyes flashed black and Madalyn’s face went pale. “Crap.”

“Yeah, that’s just what I was thinking. Now I need to find a new psychic – one that won’t reject me.”

Madalyn's mind raced as she tried to think up what to do. “Why do you need a psychic anyway?” she asked carefully.

“Oh, it’s just a little experiment I’m working on.”

Madalyn inched ever so slowly back towards the bed where her machete lay. “And why are you in Justin’s body?”

“Because he has a wonderful little talent. He can read people’s memories – it’s come in very handy.”

She stopped moving. “He what?”

The demon smiled. “Yes, Justin’s psychic, just like you! But don’t worry, his power only developed after you left him. He didn’t get a chance to mess around in that pretty little head of yours.”

“But if you already have a psychic host why did you come after me?”

“Unfortunately Justin and I had a little mishap so he’s not doing too well, and I need someone in tiptop shape. You seemed like a good candidate until that thing appeared and forced me out, so now I’ll have to find yet another freak – and preferably a guy this time. Let me see if you know anyone that could be of help to me.”

The demon was suddenly right in front of Madalyn with his hand to her head. She got a splitting headache as the demon searched through her memories. Madalyn tried to cry out as the pain got worse but she only produced a low gasping sound. The demon closed his eyes in concentration.

“Hmm… Sam Winchester… that other guy you were with… he sounds about right.” Justin’s eyes opened again. “You can tell me all about him on the drive back!”

Dean walked into Madalyn’s room wrapping gauze around his hand.

“Hey does anyone have some ta…tape?” He had looked up to see that no one was there. “Hey guys?” He stuck his head back out into the hallway but still didn’t see anyone. “They’re probably off in some dark corner together,” he muttered with a hint of jealousy.

Dean turned back around to face the inside of the empty room but a figure now stood there and it startled him so bad he almost had another heart attack.

“Ho—ly shit!” he cried as he gave a jump.

There was a pale woman wearing a tattered white nightgown with bloody slashes on nearly every part of her torso, and bunny slippers on her feet. Dean fumbled for a weapon as she reached out towards him. It wasn’t a threatening gesture, however, she was simply holding something out to him. A necklace. The one that Justin had apparently given to Madalyn.

“Shit!” Dean cursed. “Kara’s gonna kill me!”

The apparition was moving closer and motioning for Dean to take the necklace, which he did with much hesitation, then the spirit disappeared. Dean looked at the locket in his hand. Why did the ghost have it? He opened the locket part and saw that a weird symbol was painted on the inside. On a hunch he walked out to the parking lot and found the Thunderbird gone. The spirit suddenly appeared again, pointing down towards the old house.

The Impala tore down the road and came into view of the old Victorian house just as the Thunderbird peeled out of the driveway and turned the other corner. Dean flashed his lights to get Justin’s attention, hoping he’d pull over, but Justin only drove faster.

\---

Kara stormed into the bar, a wave of her anger rippling over the patrons as she passed them. She sat down on a stool in front of the bartender and ordered a beer. What the hell am I doing? I haven’t lost control like this in a long time. I need to calm down before I induce a riot. Kara took a deep breath and closed her eyes. After a moment she opened them again and relaxed.

“Kara?” a voice from her left asked.

“Yeah?” she responded and looked at the speaker.

“Wow, it is you. I haven’t seen you in years! I always wondered what happened to you. I’m glad to see you’re ok!” The guy talking to her didn’t look familiar at all and Kara definitely would have remembered him. He was gorgeous with long dark hair, deep blue-green eyes, a perfect smile and golden skin. Well, at least he would have been gorgeous if it weren’t for the ugly scar that cleanly cut his face in two.

Kara narrowed her eyes. “Do I know you?”

“I’m not surprised you don’t remember me. You were a little crazy at the time. I was working at the hospital - as an orderly - when you were brought in. My name’s Jason.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was never in a hospital,” Kara stated with an edge of alarm.

“Okay, sorry. I guess it’s not exactly a happy memory.” Jason smiled at Kara and sat down on the stool next to her.

“But seriously, how are you? I left the ward before you were released and I always wondered how you were doing and if you ever got out.” He lowered his voice ever so slightly. “Unlike O’Neill I never thought you did it.”

“I’m fine, nice of you to ask,” Kara nearly snapped at him. “Now I would love to stay and chat but I have to meet up with a friend.” Kara got off the stool and walked out without her beer. Jason watched Kara as she left and smiled, his blue-green eyes turning black for just a moment before he followed her out of the bar.

\---

The demon caught sight of the Impala in the rearview mirror. “Better buckle up Sweetheart!” he instructed Madalyn. “I have a feeling this is gonna be a rough ride!”

“Don’t call me Sweetheart,” she grumbled, having already strapped herself in.

The Impala was slowly closing in on the Thunderbird down the straight, flat highway when Dean saw the other car suddenly begin to weave back and forth across the road. The Thunderbird's break lights went on and Dean had to swerve to avoid crashing into it. The Thunderbird skidded to a stop and swung around in a 180. The driver’s side tires fell off the side of the road into the ditch that lined the highway and the car flipped over. Dean hit reverse and raced back to the accident. He jumped out and ran to see if Madalyn had survived.

Dean knelt down on the ground and peered through the windshield, bracing himself for the worst, but what he really saw inside took him by surprise. The two occupants were suspended upside down by their seatbelts. Madalyn was shouting something and Justin was writhing violently. Dean took out his gun and broke one of the rear windows with the butt of it. He realized then that Madalyn was speaking in Latin and he began to piece things together. She was performing an exorcism. Justin was possessed by a demon and he had purposely led them into a trap. But why?

Dean didn’t have time to try and figure out an answer before Madalyn finished and a giant black mass escaped from Justin’s mouth, flew out the open window, and disappeared back into Hell. But it wasn’t over yet.

“Mad…” the real Justin choked out. “God— Mad I’m so sorry…”

There was a sharp intake of breath and Dean saw Madalyn stiffen. She fumbled around and finally got herself loose from the seat, then knelt on what was supposed to be the roof of the car, smudged with white markings.

“I’m so sorry Mad, I never meant to hurt you!” Justin was still saying. His eyes watered and there was a terrified look on his face. “I was so stupid… and I know you can never forgive me…”

“Shut up, it’s gonna be ok,” Madalyn said, her voice shaking ever so slightly.

“No, Mad, it’s not.” He squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his jaw, and she saw then that he was in immense pain. He opened his eyes back up. “Please Mad…”

Madalyn shook her head fervently. She knew what he was going to ask.

“Please… end it.”

“No! We’ll take you to a hospital and you’ll be fine.” He wouldn’t be. “I won’t do it!” she choked out.

“It’s too late for that Mad, you have to!” Justin pleaded. “I can’t do this! I’m not strong enough. Please, just get it over with.”

“Justin! I can’t! I’m sorry but I can’t!” She bit back the sob stuck in her throat.

“Madalyn look at me.” She looked him straight in the eye and she knew what she had to do. She couldn’t let him suffer like this.

Dean, feeling intrusive, stood to give them some privacy.

Madalyn’s hands trembled as she took a hold of Justin’s head. “I forgive you,” she whispered.

“Mad… I lo—”

With a sickening crack he was gone.

Madalyn crawled out of the overturned Thunderbird, refusing help from Dean. She walked a few steps away and bent over to hurl into the bushes. She spat a few times to get the acidic taste out of her mouth. When she turned around Dean asked her quietly, “Are you ok?”

“Hell no…” she looked up at him then started to climb out from the ditch. “But I will be.”

\---

And if you are a good little girl, I just might let you… The words rang out loudly in Kara’s ears.

“Stupid,” she muttered fiercely to herself. “Why the hell did you come back here? What the hell did you expect?” She gunned the Mustang’s engine and drove off. Maybe a nice long drive would cool her down…

\---

Madalyn and Dean’s trip back to Arizona was done in almost complete quiet. The only noise was the radio playing the softest anything had ever been played over the Impala’s stereo… ever. Madalyn just stared out the window but the lack of social interaction seemed to be getting to Dean. He was trying to be respectful by not saying anything but he eventually took to drumming his fingers on the steering wheel in time to the music. Then he graduated to humming. Dean had just opened his mouth to start singing when Madalyn cracked a small smile. “You can say something you know. I’ll be fine.”

“Oh thank God. ‘Cause this whole silence thing was killing me!”

“Yeah, it must have been really hard for you.”

“Yeah, I was pretty proud of myself.” He turned with a grin but then he saw her smirk.

“Oh, you’re making fun of me.”

“No – well yeah, but thank you anyway.”

“You’re welcome,” he offered, kind of awkwardly from lack of ever having to say it before. “So what happened when I left to wrap my hand? I wasn’t even gone that long.”

“The demon revealed itself and took me back to the house. He locked me in the car and went inside long enough for me to draw a demon trap above the driver’s seat.”

“You memorized that thing?”

“Yeah, I’ve used it often enough, and then when we started driving again I began the exorcism.”

“You memorized that too?” Dean felt slightly ashamed of himself.

“Yeah.”

“Oh. Well you know you could of killed yourself – you almost did.”

“Well he was gonna try and possess someone else – Sam actually. I had to stop him.” She looked back out the window. “So how did you find us anyway?”

“I’m a hunter, it’s my job. Oh and I found this,” he gave her back the necklace. “There’s some weird symbol on the inside. It might help explain what happened to you.”

“He said he put a charm on it to help me focus but I think it actually blocked my power.” Madalyn opened the locket.

The pictograph in the interior looked like an “8” with a line coming out of either side of the bottom circle and was depicted over a topless rectangle.

“It’s a symbol for spirit, and one for open,” she identified. “I think the demon was trying to open me up for his possession.”

“Lucky for us it didn’t work too well.”

Madalyn touched her stomach. “Yeah…” she mumbled. The swirl pattern was still imprinted on her skin.

The Impala soon arrived back at the motel the four hunters had stayed at together. Madalyn immediately got out of the car and ambushed Dean with an awkward hug. He hesitated and then hugged her back.

“Thanks, Dean - for everything,” she said and then broke away. After a moment she turned her head with a suspicious look on her face. “Where’s the Mustang?” she asked.

“Oh, uh, Sam and Kara went to Pennsylvania.”

“PA? What are they doing there? And how do you know?” Madalyn demanded, punching him in the arm.

“Uh… they’re visiting a friend, I think. And you were in the shower when Sam called… I guess I forgot to mention it,” Dean shrugged, trying not to let anything slip.

“Hmm… Claire moved to PA,” Madalyn mused, “But I don’t know if it’s an altogether good idea for Kara to be back there. Well, let’s go then.”

“But we just got back.”

She considered this then gave a shrug. “Yeah, I guess we can wait another day. It’s not like we have to run off and save them or anything this time.”

It turned out that Sam and Kara had taken all of the remaining stuff with them and had checked out of the rooms so Dean and Madalyn had to go up to the front desk to rent another set.

“Two rooms please!” Madalyn said. Dean took out his credit card and she muttered off to the side, “Hold up, D. Hasselhoff – I’ll get this.” She took out her own piece of plastic and slid it across the counter.

“We only have one room available,” the desk attendant reported.

Madalyn raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. “I guess that’s fine.”

“Ok, here you go!” The desk attendant held out a set of keys. “One queen, right down the hall.”

“Oh,” Madalyn’s hand stopped in mid-air as she reached for the keys. “Not two beds?”

“Uh I thought… oh that’s right you asked for two…” the lady looked flustered. “I’m sorry, no… and like I said – that’s our last room.”

“It’s ok. Do you have an extra blanket?”

Madalyn threw Dean the comforter once they got to their room. “Alright, you get that side, I’ll take this side.” She got a twisted expression on her face. “And now I need to get the taste of vomit out of my mouth.”

“So where exactly in Pennsylvania are we going?” Dean asked.

“The address is in my wallet,” Madalyn said, tossing it over her shoulder as she went to brush her teeth.

Dean caught the wallet and started to go through it. “Is Kershaw your real name?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she called back out from the bathroom.

“You put your real name on your credit cards?”

“Yeah…”

“Why?”

“Because I’m a fine upstanding citizen!” She did a little pose with her hand on her hip, the other still holding her toothbrush. “I even pay my bills!”

“How?”

“With money.” She rolled her eyes and went back to the sink.

“But where do you get the money?”

“Dean, what does it matter?” She walked over and took her wallet from him. “Here’s the address.” She located it and handed him the slip of paper.

He took it. “I’m just wondering how you can afford to be so honest.”

“I pay for stuff with my trust fund, ok?” She grabbed some clothes from her bag. “Do you need the bathroom? I’m gonna take a shower.”

“Wait – you have a trust fund? You’re a trust fund kid!?” He stared at her in bewilderment. With another roll of her eyes she went back into the bathroom and shut the door. “Hey, then you owe me for those cheese fries back at the bowling alley!” He called.

Dean was lounging on the bed watching TV when Madalyn came back out a half hour later, drying her hair with a towel.

“That’s a pretty nasty gash you got there.” He pointed to her forehead.

Madalyn felt the cut tenderly. “Yeah, I better cover it up.” She went for the first aid kit.

“So you don’t wanna talk, do you?” Dean asked with a sideways glance as she stood before the mirror with some gauze a minute later. “’Cause I know girls need to talk about… everything.”

“I’m fine,” Madalyn smiled with a little shake of her head. “Thanks for your almost consideration.” What was she supposed to say? She couldn’t even begin to describe all the emotions she had gone through in the last twenty-four hours.

“Maddie?”

“Huh?” She had been staring, unmoving, as if somehow looking past the reflective glass.

“I lost you there for a minute. You sure you’re ok?”

She blinked. “And if I’m not?”

Dean shut off the TV. “I know what it’s like to lose someone. I’ve never lost someone that, you know, I cared about like that, but it must be just as bad - maybe worse.”

She shrugged. “I had two years to get over him. And the guy who came back - it wasn’t really him anyway, right? So whatever.”

He studied her for a moment as she carefully taped up her wound. “Well if you do need to talk… you know I’m sure Sam’ll be willing to help you out.” He cleared his throat and got up. “Ok, I’m gonna hit the sack now.”

“Yeah,” she muttered in agreement.

Crawling underneath their respective covers Madalyn and Dean lay perched on opposite sides of the bed. Dean glanced over his shoulder and back again. “Goodnight,” he said, but Madalyn was already asleep.

\---

When Kara arrived back at Claire’s it was pitch black and close to midnight. When she walked through the door she saw Sam perched on the couch, waiting up for her. He stood up abruptly as she entered the living room.

“Hey Sammy,” she said, biting her lip guiltily. “I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier – It was out of line. I just – It’s just… I hate this place. It brings back too many unhappy memories.”

“It’s ok, I understand. But I think it’s time you told me what happened to you here. It’s the only way I’ll be able to help.”

“I’m sorry Sam, but I can’t. It’s just too painful – not even Maddie knows everything.” Kara’s voice was starting to crack and so was her grip on her powers. “Do you know what it’s like to see your friend being torn apart by something that shouldn’t even exist?” Her bottom lip was trembling and she had to collect herself before she went on. “I will tell you this though, those girls are just like me and now they’re in danger. We need to do something!” Kara hastily wiped the tears forming in her eyes and Sam felt the fear and sadness that seemed to be coming off of her in waves.

“I can feel how terrified you are Kara, but I don’t know what to do about it if you won’t tell me what’s going on. What’s making you so afraid?”

For a while Kara didn’t say anything then she looked Sam straight in his eyes.

“You really want to know why I’m scared – why I hate this place?” The tears had stopped and her jaw was clenched firmly in place. She took a deep, shuttering breath before she continued. “For six months I was tortured by a sadistic doctor who wanted nothing more than for me to admit that I killed my roommate - and when I finally gave in and said I did it he only made the torture worse. I almost slid too far into something inside of me I thought I could never get back from.”

Sam just stared at Kara for a moment and then wrapped his arms tightly around her. He held on until her body began to relax. The two of them soon fell asleep on the couch, wrapped in each other’s arms.

\---

When Dean awoke the next morning he found that he was curled up next to Madalyn, her head resting on his chest. He fell back asleep and when he woke a second time she was gone. He got up and pulled on a shirt, then started packing up his stuff. Madalyn entered the room a little while later, a deep frown on her face.

“What’s up?” Dean asked.

“It’s getting worse.” Madalyn pulled her jacket off one of her shoulders and he saw that the swirled markings had crept up her back to her collarbone.

“Dude…”

She took a hold of her head suddenly, letting out a strangled cry. “It’s too loud!” she winced and Dean noticed her breathing was ragged.

“Woah, Maddie what’s going on?” he asked.

She squeezed her eyes shut. “I feel suffocated. There’s too many!”

“Spirits?”

“Yeah…” She went over to her bag and fumbled through it until she found the demon’s locket. She slipped it on and took a deep breath. “That’s better,” she sighed after a moment.

Dean frowned. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. We don’t really know what that thing does.”

“It helps block out the noise. That’s all I care about right now. Now let’s get going, it’s almost noon already.”

Madalyn woke up many hours later in the passenger’s seat of the Impala.

“What time is it?” She asked sleepily.

“’Bout ten.”

“What? Why didn’t you wake me? I was supposed to take a turn driving so you could get some rest.”

He shrugged. “It looked like you needed the sleep more than I did. Plus I can’t really rest when you drive.”

“I drive just fine!” She hit him lightly on the arm and then froze, her jaw slack.

Dean saw the look of horror on her face. “What is it?”

“My hand…” she mumbled, then quickly took off her jacket. The ivy pattern had woven itself down around her left arm and even now Madalyn watched in terror as a large circle appeared on her palm and a star drew itself inside of it. “Dean?” Her voice shook.

“I don’t know…”

“Dean, pull the car over.”

“Look, here’s a motel.”

“Pull the car over!!!”

“Okay!!!”

Before the Impala was even fully in park Madalyn had jumped out. She ripped off the demon’s necklace and threw it to the ground. She ran to a streetlight a few yards away and frantically examined her body to see the entire extent of the tattoo. It had wound itself around her torso from the left side of her abdomen to the right, across her back up to her left shoulder and around her left arm and down the back of her hand for a final twist around her middle finger. The pentacles had disappeared - except for the fresh one on her palm - but the lines of the swirled pattern had gotten darker and bolder. Panicking, Madalyn tried scratching it off.

“Madalyn!” Dean grabbed her arms to prevent her from tearing away her skin. “Stop it!”

“I want it off! Get it off!”

“Just calm down. We can figure this out.”

“How? We have no idea what the hell this is or where it came from!” She sank down to the ground. “And the noise – it’s so loud…” She grasped her head in pain.

Dean knelt down next to her, not exactly sure what to do or how to console her.

“Maddie… it’ll be alright.”

“Why can’t I just be normal? Why do I have to be a freak?!”

“You’re not a freak! You’re just different. It kinda comes with the territory when you’re a hunter.”

“You can’t understand, Dean. You don’t have things constantly messing with your head. You only see ghosts – you don’t have to feel them. You don’t have them watching you constantly – staring at you with their empty eyes. Always calling to you… Inside of you!” She buried her head in her knees.

“Come on,” Dean said after awhile, “let’s go inside.” He helped Madalyn up and she leaned heavily on him as they walked towards the motel.

\---

When Sam awoke he was still on the couch but Kara was no longer in her arms. He did a quick search around the house and found that he was alone. Sam looked through the living room window and checked out front, not expecting to see the Mustang, but it was still sitting in the driveway where Kara had parked it the night before. Sam quickly went from worry to panic. He grabbed his phone off the table and dialed Kara’s number. A funny little melody sounded from somewhere at the back of the house. Sam followed the noise to the backdoor that led out through the kitchen. His cell phone clattered loudly to the floor once he saw what his previous search had missed before.

Kara’s cell phone was lying in a puddle of what could only be blood. Kara was gone – but she hadn’t gone willingly.

END


End file.
